Feathers
by Plural Force
Summary: While cleaning out his closet, Rath comes across an old Native American dreamcatcher of his. He learns that dreams can sometimes take different forms... oneshot, AU, RC.


Hey all; here's my fourth one-shot. Yeah... not much to say on this one... it's not a masterpiece, like "Come with you" or my baby "Even in the rain", but I rather like it. For those of you who've read "Revelations", it kind of expands on the dreamcatcher idea I had in volume 12. (That dreamcatcher I'm describing is mine, by the way. XD )

Oh, and by the way, I _did_ try hitting myself over the head with the edge of that dreamcatcher. Now I feel pity for Rath; that thing hurts.

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Knights.

Feathers

The sky that evening was beautiful. Bright red hues splashed across the southern sky, bleeding into the orange and yellows of the sunset and the rapidly darkening blue overhead. The sun-dyed skies cast an almost pinkish tint over stray clouds, and the bright, fiery colors mingled with the trees and danced across each other, almost as if in a painting. Yes... if you looked close enough, you could just see the gentle strokes of the artist's brush.

The sunset was especially beautiful tonight.

Rath could really care less.

The red-haired boy cast a quick glance out his bedroom window before turning back to the ominous sight before him: the never-ending depths of his closet. Sighing, he dug deeper into the mess, pushing back piles of papers and huge boxes of old comics, muttering under his breath.

"I can't believe I'm reduced to _this_," Rath grumbled. "Reduced to digging through old stuff in my closet... where the _heck_ isthat science paper?"

_THUD._

"Ow!" Rath yelled as something dropped on his head. Turquoise strips and white feathers went flying as the thing that had flew from the top shelf of Rath's closet bounced off his head and onto the floor.

"That hurt," the boy muttered as he rubbed the top of his head. Looking down, he suddenly noticed the cause of the incident. Rath reached and slowly picked up a large dreamcatcher, the lining a turquoise color, and turquoise and white beads littering the strands and feathers.

"What..." Rath whispered to himself. "When did I get _this_?"

All of a sudden, Rath remembered something. Five years back, he was just a twelve-year-old boy, and it was then that he and his two closest friends, Rune and Thatz, had all gone up to the Grand Canyon together.

They had been in a gift shop nearby, just walking around. Something had caught Thatz's eye, and, as per usual, he _had_ to drag Rath along to it.

"...What are these?" Rath had muttered when the two had reached the stand, fingering a yellow dreamcatcher lightly.

"'What'...? Don't be _stupid_, Rath, they're dreamcatchers," replied Thatz, holding one out for his friend. "See? Handmade by Native Americans."

"Yeah, but..." Rath leaned closer, inspecting the intricate strings. "What _are_ they?"

His green-haired companion stared incredulously. "...You mean you don't even know the legend?"

Rath shook his head blankly, still looking at the dreamcatchers.

"You're a native to Arizona, and you don't even know the _dreamcatcher_ legend?"

"Oh, be quiet already! You know I'm not as educated in these things as you!" Rath shouted, finally tearing his eyes away from the stand to scowl at his friend.

"I won't argue with _that_," Thatz muttered. Then, rotating the display, a particularly large catcher caught his eye.

"Oh, wow..."

It was huge; Rath judged it to be at least a foot in diameter. Beads decorated the strands in the center, and each turquoise strip at the bottom held at least three feathers. The thing even had a feather or two at the _top_. Slowly, Rath reached forward and picked the dreamcatcher up off its hook, fingers following the intricate pattern of the strands.

"Buy it."

Rath looked up, staring at his friend. "What?"

Thatz met his companion's gaze equally. "I said, if you like it so much, buy it."

"W-what? No!" Rath stuttered, surprised by the sudden outburst. "I'm not buying this thing!"

"Well, one of us has to buy it."

"W-what? Wh-why don't you just buy it?"

"Because I don't want it," Thatz said smoothly.

"W-well, why don't you make Rune buy it or something! I don't want it!"

"Right now, Rune looks much more interested in those goat statues than that dreamcatcher."

"Ah... well, why do _I_ have to buy it!"

"Because you were the one who picked it up."

Rath sighed. "_Fine_," he muttered. The boy turned to walk toward the cash register. Then he stopped suddenly, looking over his shoulder at his closest friend.

"Hey... are you at least going to tell me the legend?"

Thatz snorted. "_No_."

"What?"

The green-haired boy looked up at his friend. "If you really want to know that badly, go look it up on the internet or something. It's not _my_ responsibility." Thatz turned to leave the store. "I'll see you outside."

Rath sighed, glaring at his friend's retreating back.

_...That was five years ago._

Shaken out of his memory, Rath kept staring at the intricately patterned object, strings spiraling one way and another.

Setting his old souvenir down on the floor, Rath got up and sat at the end of his bed, poppingthe top of his laptop and pulling up the internet. As he ran a search, Rath couldn't help but let his mind wander off to old days.

He had been best friends with Thatz for as long as he could remember; and when the two friends met Rune in third grade, the trio had become inseparable. Since then, the three had done _everything_ together; it was expected of them, now. Thatz and Rath had often done that to each other: making the other one buy things. It had become somewhat of a running joke by now.

Clicking on a link on the computer screen, Rath got the information he was looking for. "'Dreamcatchers: the Native American Legend'," he read aloud.

"'According to Native American tradition, a person hangs a dreamcatcher over their bed. At night, both good dreams and bad dreams enter. The bad dreams will get caught in the knots, while good dreams slide through the holes between the strings. The good dreams will then slide down the feathers at the bottom and enter your head. The bad dreams will stay in the knots until sunrise, where they are burned up by the morning sun.' Interesting..."

Rath stared at the screen for a moment before getting up again and retrieving his own dreamcatcher from the floor. Suddenly glancing out the window, Rath noticed it had become dark outside...

_They say dreams get caught in these things at night..._

Running his fingers over the strings again, Rath paused over one of the knots, then carefully stopped and gripped it firmly.

_Let's see what kinds of dreams this thing has._

..."Stop..."

A face turned, black wings unfurled, face streaked with tears of blood.

"Don't... awaken me..."

The two men watched, helpless in the background.

"Leave... me... alone!"

The startling scene played out in front of them, in the snow.

"I want to forget. Let me forget..."

Startled, Rath pulled away from the dreamcatcher quickly, eyes bewildered. Carefully, the boy reached out and touched another knot.

The scene wasn't what he was expecting this time...

It was... his step-brother Lykouleon's old rival Nadil... in a bunny suit?

A loud _CLANG!_, and the Easter Bunny-Nadil had been caged and was tied up, now roasting ever-so-peacefully on a spit. Off to the side, two figures prepared. Rath and Thatz, complete with strange clothes, were setting out silverware for their afternoon meal.

"Somebody get me off of this thing!" roared Nadil...

Rath pulled away again, this time bewildered.

"What the heck..." he laughed. "Was that supposed to be... a good dream... or a bad dream?"

Eventually, Rath's smile faded, and his hand hovered over the dreamcatcher.

"Just... one more knot..."

_You're a dreamcatcher, right? Well, who says the dreams can't be my own...?_

_Gods, it's been three years already. Just let her come back... I miss her..._

Slowly, Rath touched one of the knots.

_HONK!_

A car horn and the flash of lights outside made Rath look up from his spot on the bed. Looking out the window, the boy caught a glimpse of a white van, pulling into the driveway.

_Could it be...?_

Still staring, Rath got up from the bed and hurried outside, now rushing towards the still-running car. Eventually, the motor stopped, and out stepped a girl, black hair waving down her back and golden eyes shining brightly. Shutting the car door, the girl turned to face Rath.

"Cesia..." he breathed. And as her golden eyes locked with his red ones, it occured to him.

_This isn't a dream..._ his mind breathed to him. _This isn't another dream, it's real..._

_It's real..._

And as the two embraced, Rath spoke in his heart, with all the strength he had.

_Thank you..._

And from then on, you would always find a turquoise dreamcatcher hanging by Rath's bedside, white feathers floating down.

-OWARI-

-END-

-o0o-

Yeah, like I said, not a masterpiece... but I like it. Umm... well, this was worked on only at night, and done while listening to Inuyasha music-- this was actually inspired by Tackey and Tsubasa's "One Day, One Dream". Yeah, Inuyasha music is good for writing XD Anyway, the whole Nadil-bunny roasting on a spit thing is an inside joke for the people of the Reverein forum. Hope you're reading this, you guys; this is dedicated to you! (Especially Kaos Knight (Suzako no Miko here), who helped capture Nadil and roast him, and Relle, who put bombs in our shoes and turned us all to extra-crispy chicken after she found out what we'd done to Nadil... XD )

Anyways, I hope you like... and please review! Thanks, you guys...

Hobey-ho,  
Peophin-chan 


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